Influential Engineers: Where Do They Come From and Where Do They Go? [Trends]

The objective of this paper is to examine the intercontinental movement of highly cited researchers (HCRs) in the field of engineering. We use the data on HCRs available from the Thomson Scientific database covering a 20-year period (1981-1999), combined with information collected from the Internet and the researchers themselves, to examine the movement in engineering around the world of the HCRs from birth to their present affiliation. There is a steady movement of engineers from Europe and the rest of the world to the U.S.